Just Five Minutes
by Elle Aitch
Summary: In an attempt to make money, Tucker and Danny decide to charge twenty bucks for a date with Danny Phantom. The last thing they expected, however, was for Valerie to take them up on their offer, or for her start falling for him.  Slight AU. DannyxValerie.
1. Chapter 1:  A Brilliant Plan

**Chapter One: A Brilliant Plan**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own DP.**

"This sucks. Why do they have to charge twenty bucks a month to play online for the new _Doomed?_" groaned Tucker as he took a bite of his massive burger. It was about a half hour after school had gotten out, and as usual, he and Sam were at the Nasty Burger waiting for their friend. Once again Danny had been forced to ditch class to fight a ghost, and as per the norm, Mr. Lancer had handed him an all too familiar detention slip once he'd finally come back half an hour later.

"Because the developers are soulless, corporate jerks bent on making obscene amounts of money by taking advantage of children's clueless parents," replied Sam, and then she flashed him a brilliant grin. "And speaking of clueless parents, my mom and dad already agreed to pay for my subscription."

"Seriously?" said Tucker between bites. "How'd you manage that? Aren't they against the whole video games thing?"

"I promised my mom I'd attend one social a month with them if she paid for it," explained Sam, sounding a little bitter about it, "and that I'd wear a dress that wasn't black, too. Of course, that still leaves a lot of other dark colors that'll make her wish she'd never agreed to our little bargain, so it'll be worth it in the end."

"Wow, Sam," sighed the African American boy, for he'd only seen Sam succumb to such extremes like agreeing to hang out with her parents a few times, and usually it was for Danny's sake. Then again, maybe it still was. The goth girl had been in love with their clueless friend for a long time, and both Tucker and Sam knew that video games were one of the few breaks from reality that Danny had anymore. His life had slowly been turning into a never ending ghost fight, and it was rare when he got a full night of sleep or managed to get his homework done. Yet even with all of his responsibilities, they both still tried to make sure that he at least had some fun from time to time. "But my parents already refused."

"Wait, what?"

"I know, I know," sighed Tucker. "My mom said that I need to take a little break from video games because she thinks that all I do anymore is goof off, that I don't know the meaning of the word "responsibility," _and_ that I have an unhealthy attachment to technology. She actually tried to confiscate my new PDA last night! I mean, do you know how lonely Cindy would've been without me if my mom had thrown her in some drawer somewhere?"

"And your dad?" asked Sam, who couldn't help but find herself agreeing with Tucker's mom, at least a little bit. Techno geek or not, Tucker was sometimes disturbingly fond of his devices, and forcing him to take a break from it was probably for the best.

"Is staying safely out of the argument all together," he explained. "She said that if I wanted to play it, then I'll have to pay for it myself."

"Well, it's only like twenty bucks," said Sam. "You could do something like mow lawns or rake leaves and stuff."

"Actual physical labor?" he gasped, flashing Sam an overly exaggerated, horrified look as he took a bite out of his burger. "No way, Sam. Forget it."

"What about eating out less and using your allowance?" she advised, nodding pointedly at the burger.

"And give up one of my required daily doses of meat?" he scoffed, making her roll her eyes.

"Well, you have to do _something, _Tucker," said Sam, and just then their third friend sat down at the table, a box of cheesy fries and a huge soda in hand. His bright blue eyes had dark circles surrounding them, a clear sign of his lack of sleep, and his slightly shaggy, black hair seemed even more disheveled than usual.

"Hey, guys," he mumbled, obviously exhausted as he slumped down in his chair and downed about half his soda in one gulp. "Any ghost attacks while I was out?"

"Nope," said Tucker. "You okay, dude? You look pretty awful."

"I fell asleep in detention and Lancer called my parents," he grumbled as he took a bite of his fries. "Which means that once again I'm going to get a lecture about responsibility and bringing up my grades and stuff that I'm just not in the mood to listen to, and I've got yet another detention for tomorrow to make up for the one that I fell asleep in today. You think by now Lancer would realize that the detentions aren't going to change anything."

"Hey, he needs to feel like he's doing something, right, and making students miserable is the one thing he's an expert at," teased Tucker, but Danny just glared at him, obviously not in the mood to talk about it much.

"Oh . . . Well, Tucker and I were talking about the new _Doomed," _said Sam, pointedly changing the subject. "Think your parents will pay for it if you bring your grades up?"

Danny shook his head and chuckled grimly. "Nope. Besides, what are the odds that I'll actually be able to? The semester's more than half over, and I've barely got a 'D' in most of my classes. I'll be lucky to pass."

"But you still want to play, right?"

"Well, duh," he chuckled. "I need to have some fun, right?"

"Exactly," said Tucker. "Which means that we need to come up with a way to earn enough money to pay the monthly subscription fee, one which involves little to no manual labor and easy hours."

"Did you have something in mind?" asked Danny, eyeing his friend, and just then Paulina Sanchez came striding in through the door to the Nasty Burger, instantly making Danny forget everything else. Today she was wearing a bright pink shirt, but instead of her usual top, this one had Danny Phantom's famous _DP _logo stamped on the front of it. Even though Danny had long since learned that girls like Paulina weren't worth an ounce of his time, he couldn't deny that she was still incredibly beautiful and captivating, and that the _DP _logo was well-placed . . .

"Wow, Paulina, I really like your t-shirt," said Starr, tossing her blond hair over her shoulder and breaking Danny out of his thoughts, and Valerie merely glowered beside her. "Do you think I could get one?"

"Well, my papa had them specially made and stuff for all members of the Danny Phantom Phan Club," she explained, batting her eyelashes at some cute guy sitting at the counter that had been checking her out, "and so all members will get one. Well, all the cool, official members will get one. I don't want to end up wearing the same thing as a loser."

The popular girl's eyes drifted over to Danny and his friends as she said the word "loser," which, of course, was hardly surprising. The trio had been at the bottom of the social ladder for years now, and the odds of that changing were only slightly better than the odds of Danny bringing his grades up. After all, Sam might've been rich, but she was just that creepy goth chick; Tucker was the desperate techno geek; and Danny was just the scrawny loser from that weird family as well as the favorite punching bag of their town's football star, Dash Baxter.

"Why the hell do you want anything to do with that ghost, anyway?" growled Valerie. "He's just a creep."

"He's not a creep, he's _dreamy_," sighed Paulina, practically swooning. "And someday we're going to be married. Now that I'm wearing his symbol, he'll just have to notice me and go out on a date with me and stuff."

"Hey, that's it!" exclaimed Tucker loudly, earning a few curious looks and glares, and wincing he looked back at his best buddy with a conspiratorial grin. Whispering, he said, "I know how we can earn some money, dude."

"Oh?"

"Paulina really wants to meet Danny Phantom, right?" said Tucker slowly, and Danny had a bad feeling about where this was going since he'd also been listening to the girls when Tucker had had his "epiphany." "A lot of girls do, actually. So what if we charged them, say, twenty bucks for the chance to hook up with Danny Phantom for an evening of fabulous romance?"

Snorting, Sam almost spat out her ultra low fat soy latte all over the table. "Wait, what?"

"I'm serious," said Tucker. "We charge twenty bucks for a date with Danny Phantom. Two dates a month means that we're both covered, and in the mean time, you get to go out with some of the hottest chicks in town."

"They're _women_, Tucker," said Sam, scowling. "They might be shallow, mentally challenged women, but they're still women and they're certainly not _chicks_."

"Fine, then," he said. "They're super hot women who would definitely pay twenty bucks for a date with Danny Phantom."

"You know, Tuck, that might actually work . . ." said Danny slowly as he chewed on one of his fries.

"You have got to be kidding me," Sam scoffed. "You're actually considering letting Tucker whore you out like that?"

"What? That's ridiculous, Sam, he's not going to have sex with them," chuckled Tucker, giving a glance to Danny that clearly said _unless you want to have sex with them_. "Just a date. It's as innocent as a kissing booth, and it's a chance for Danny to get his good name out there and let the ladies learn a little bit more about him. Twenty bucks for a night under the stars with Danny Phantom . . . Hell, we could even limit it to an hour and I'm sure they'd pay for it. Oh! Or we could do like a speed dating thing, y'know? Have a twenty dollar entrance fee to get in, and then have whoever he picks as the winner go out on a date with him. That way he can pay the internet fees for the new Doomed and still be a gentleman by picking up the tab for dinner or whatever."

"Yeah, because there'll be nothing suspicious about Danny Phantom eating food," said Sam, rolling her eyes. "This is ridiculous, Tucker."

"I'll do it," said Danny, and Sam gave him a dark look. "What? I could use a little extra money, and besides, it'd be nice to get to know some of my fans."

"They're not fans, Danny, they're stalkers, and you're just going to give them a reason to keep coming after you. Haven't you ever heard of feeding stray cats? Same idea, only a lot worse because one of these stupid cats could blow your secret," Sam complained, but the two boys ignored her as they made their plans. It was a brilliant scheme, after all, and letting out a disgusted sigh, Sam cleared her things and left the boys there, waiting for the moment when it would all blow up in their face and she would be able to tell them "I told you so" without feeling a hint of remorse.

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><p><strong>AN: Hi, guys! I know it's been a while (ages) since I've posted anything . . . and for those of you reading my other stuff, you may be less than thrilled that I've decided to write something else rather than work on those stories. Sorry about that. But I've had the idea to do this for a long time (ever since I first read ghostanimal's challenge like a year ago), I have most of this plotted and sketched out, and I kind of wanted to write a sort of fluffy, cheerier story since things haven't been great and I could use a little humor and happiness in my life right now. I'm not abandoning things by any stretch, but with the exception of this and maybe my one-shots, I'm not making any promises about updating soon or anything like that, okay?**

**And yes, that does mean that you can expect another update for this within the week, as well as one for my one-shots.  
><strong>

**Anyway, this story is mostly rated 'T' just for occasional language, and it is a response to ghostanimal's old challenge. It is DannyxValerie as well, so please bear that in mind, and if you don't like that pairing, then DON'T READ the story. I don't need anyone sending me flames about how they hate that pairing, or questioning why I would ever dare to put those two together, and so on and so on, so please, don't waste my time or yours crying over something that I'm not going to change.**

**Any other constructive criticism, questions, or just fluff, however, would be greatly appreciated, so please review!**

**'Til next time!  
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	2. Chapter 2:  A Perfect Opportunity

**Chapter Two: A Perfect Opportunity**

**Disclaimer: Just in case someone might've thought that in the past week I'd somehow gained ownership of Danny Phantom . . . Yup. It didn't happen. I still don't own it.**

It was perfect, thought Valerie. Absolutely perfect.

Ever since the ghost boy had caused the mess that had ruined both hers and her father's lives, Valerie had hated him. She had taken every opportunity to destroy Phantom, to rip him apart molecule by molecule, and she would not stop until the day that Danny Phantom ceased to exist. Lately, though, hunting the spook had been much harder than it used to be. Ever since the ghost boy revealed her secret to her father, Damon Grey had been watching every move Valerie made, never allowing her to do her job as long as he was there. Although Valerie still managed to sneak out to hunt ghosts during classes and while her father was working, she didn't have nearly as much time as she used to have to pursue her vendetta.

That is, until now.

That morning when she'd walked into school, Paulina had come up to her, gushing about how that "loser" Danny Fenton (an opinion which Valerie did not share, yet rather than arguing uselessly with an airhead like Paulina about it, she kept her mouth shut and worked on trying to convince Starr to see reason instead) and his creepy friend Tucker Foley were offering women a chance to go on a date with Danny Phantom for a mere twenty bucks. Although Paulina was too brainless to think about how the two boys would manage to convince a ghost like Phantom to play nice for an hour, Valerie was not; however, if there was a chance that she could hook up with the ghost, then it might be well worth it. If Valerie could just convince Phantom that she meant him no harm, then she might be able to get him alone long enough to waste him when he wasn't looking. It was a cowardly strike, to be sure, but Valerie felt that the ghost wasn't worthy of being honorably destroyed when he was such a vile, putrid scum bag.

"Heya, Danny!" she called, waving at the dark-haired, blue eyed boy, and she could feel her heart fluttering at the sight of her old boyfriend. There were many, many times when Valerie wished she could still be with him, but her job simply put him in too much danger, a point which the ghost boy had made abundantly clear when he'd destroyed the shell of her suit that day. She just had too many enemies to let herself get close to anyone, especially someone as weak and helpless as Danny Fenton.

"Val?" he stuttered, clearly startled by her sudden interest in him. He'd taken their breakup pretty hard, after all, and they hadn't really talked much since that day. In his hand he held a clipboard, while beside him his friend Tucker was talking to a pretty junior girl that Valerie didn't recognize.

"So I heard you guys are setting up dates with Danny Phantom," she said, smiling at him sweetly even though saying that spook's name made her want to vomit. "I didn't know you knew him."

"Uh . . . sort of," he replied vaguely, staring at her suspiciously as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "He—um—he asked Tucker and I if we'd be willing to set up a kind of speed dating thing for him so he could get to know his fans, and, well, we kind of need money for the new _Doomed_, so we agreed."

"Your parents are okay with you guys helping out a ghost?" questioned Valerie skeptically, a hint of venom in that last word, and Danny cringed slightly.

"Of course not. My parents would freak out if they thought we were doing Phantom a favor," he said, smiling at her, "but we really need the money, you know?"

"Yeah," she admitted, all too familiar with being poor and not having enough for the latest fashion trends or even her next meal at times ever since her father had lost his old job. "Well, if it's to help out you, Danny, then you can sign me up, too."

"Wait, what?" gasped Tucker as he scribbled down the name of the latest girl to sign up on their clipboard. He hadn't noticed Valerie before on account of the seemingly endless string of hot girls who were signing up for an evening with Danny Phantom. "I thought you _hated_ Danny Phantom. You practically rip out Paulina's hair every time she mentions him."

"I do hate that spook, but—uh—well, if Danny thinks he's okay, then maybe he's really not that bad," she said, forcing the words out as she smiled awkwardly, and her claim sounded fake even to her ears. There was no way that they'd let her sign up. "Maybe five minutes with him is all I need to see that."

"Are—are you sure?" asked Danny nervously, his eyes seeming to light up as he looked at her, and she smiled as they gazed at each other for a moment. He really was too trusting sometimes, just so helplessly clueless that she'd be amazed if he didn't get hurt because of it in the long run. Of course, Danny would never forgive her if he knew that she was using this as an opportunity to try and destroy Phantom, but it wasn't as if Danny knew she was actually the red huntress. With any luck, he'd never learn the truth, and even if he did then her destroying Phantom was as much for his sake as it was her own. That ghost was dangerous, and with Danny simply unwilling to believe that, Valerie knew she had to get rid of Phantom before he ended up hurting her clueless ex.

"Yeah," she said, pulling out a very hard earned twenty from her pocket and handing it to Tucker, who took it gleefully and rubbed it against his cheek until another girl approached him and began to ask him about signing up as well. "Will I see you there?"

"Uh . . . I'm kind of grounded, so I'm not going to be there," mumbled Danny, not looking at her as he spoke, and Valerie's heart sunk a little bit. For some reason Danny was always getting into trouble with his parents and at school, even though he seemed to be such a decent guy, and Valerie wished she could understand what he was thinking long enough to help him stop doing whatever stupid thing it was that got him in trouble all the time.

She'd also been hoping that Danny would be there so that she could talk to him a little, but maybe it was for the best. She didn't need that ghost to pick up on her feelings for Danny—after all, the reason she'd stopped dating him in the first place was to avoid having a ghost use him against her, and she definitely wouldn't put it past that ghost scum to threaten Danny when she finally made her move against Phantom.

"What about Sam?" wondered Valerie, just noticing that the Goth girl wasn't here. Not that she minded. All Sam ever did was glare and say nasty things to her since she was jealous that Valerie had actually worked up the courage to date Danny rather than just endlessly pine over him, and Valerie had a feeling that Sam had never forgiven Valerie for the nasty things she'd done while she was still a member of the A-list.

"She's convinced this is a bad idea and is refusing to help us 'pimp out Danny Phantom to a bunch of desperate women' or whatever, but I'm sure she'll change her mind and go so that she can at least keep an eye on Tucker to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble," Danny told her, chuckling a bit as he wrote her name down on the list, and Valerie smiled at him. She had to admit that she kind of agreed with Sam in this case, but she wasn't about to say that to Danny. "Maybe she's right, but . . . I don't know. I think we'll be okay, and besides, Phantom wants to do it."

"I'm sure," said Valerie, frowning. There had to be a reason why the ghost was interested in meeting his fans and was using Tucker and Danny to do it. No doubt he was hoping to do something horrible like brainwashing or destroying them or using them against the elder Fentons somehow, but at least this way Valerie would be there to make sure that everyone who went would make it out in one piece. "So you said this was like a speed dating thing?"

"Yeah. Every girl who pays the twenty bucks gets five minutes with Phantom," Danny explained, "and then after all of the dates are done, he'll pick the girl that he wants to go out on a real date with. We figure that he can use the money from the other girls to pay for it, and whatever's leftover goes to us."

"But he's a ghost," objected Valerie instantly. "He's dead. He can't have a girlfriend, no matter what Paulina thinks."

For a moment there was a strange, sad look in Danny's eyes that Valerie couldn't understand, and he seemed to stare off, not really focusing on her. "Do you ever wonder about him?"

_Only about how I'll destroy him_, thought Valerie, but out loud she merely said, "Not really. I mean, I figure he's a ghost, and your parents have always said that there's no such thing as a good ghost and with all the horrible things that he's done in the past it seems like they're right, so why would I waste my time thinking about that spook?"

"My parents and I have different opinions about that," said Danny quietly. "I don't think it's true. I think that there can be good ghosts, and that all of those bad things that Phantom's been accused of were either lies or misunderstandings." Valerie resisted the urge to argue with him. Her ex could be just as stubborn as she was, and there was no way she would be able to convince him that the boy's parents were right about ghosts. He was just the type of person who chose to see good in everyone and everything, including vicious spooks, and silently she prayed that one day he wouldn't get hurt because of his naiveté. "But I guess . . . I mean, he's really young, you know? Like our age. I kind of can't help but wonder how he—how he died, and if he ever got the chance to have an amazing girlfriend—" he looked at Valerie when he said this, making her feel incredibly guilty and incredibly flattered at the same time "—or if he ever had anyone that really cared about him, you know? I feel like maybe that's why he's doing this. Maybe he just wants to feel human for a night or something."

"But he's not human," said Valerie gently. "He's a ghost."

"I know," sighed Danny, his gaze once again locked on something Valerie couldn't see, and then he seemed to snap out of it. "So why are you doing this, Val, if you think it's a bad idea?"

"Because I want to help you guys make a little money in a way that's less humiliating than how I make money," she whispered quietly so only Danny could hear her. "And besides, maybe my crazy ex-boyfriend is right," she teased him more loudly, gently punching Danny in the shoulder. "Maybe he is a good ghost."

"You don't sound like you believe that," chuckled Danny, but his tone was surprisingly serious when he spoke next. "Hey, Val? You think you could do something for me?"

"Depends on what that something is," she answered honestly, for she had a feeling what he was going to ask her and she didn't think she was willing to do it.

"Just give him a chance," he pleaded, his blue eyes locking with hers. "For five minutes, just—just listen to him. Please?"

Valerie paused, not really sure she wanted to make this kind of a bargain when those five minutes were really a chance for her to figure out a way to destroy him, but in the end she sighed, "Okay, Danny. I promise I'll give that spook a chance."

"Thanks, Valerie," he said, and she smiled at him as she walked away. Really, her old boyfriend was so clueless. She might've promised to give the ghost an opportunity to explain himself, but she didn't say she still wouldn't take an opportunity to destroy him after those five minutes were up. Even if she didn't blast him while sitting there on her date with him—which would've been a bad move, anyway, unless she wanted a pack of angry fan girls to kill her afterward—this whole setup meant that for at least an hour she would know exactly where the ghost boy was. She would take her time with him, wait for the opportune moment, and then, while he was busy seducing some innocent girl, she would destroy him.

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><p><strong>AN: And another chapter completed, even if it did end up day later than I'd originally planned. Still, at least I'm updating, and I'm definitely going to do my best to keep it up.**

**On a totally unrelated note, it might be silly, but I always have trouble remembering that Star is only supposed to be spelled with one 'r'. I mostly blame my stepsister (whose name is actually 'Starr' as well, but spelled with two r's.) Hopefully making a note of it here will help me keep that in mind.**

**Anyway, not much else to say here, other than a big thanks to Fugitive of Gray, coopt98, Moe, Fluehatraya, MsFrizzle, ghostanimal, LTTHE4TH, and Exess for their reviews!**

**Well, that and the usual plea for more reviews that comes at the end of everything I write. Seriously, it means a lot to me, so if you have a moment, I'd love it if you could leave one.**

**'til next time!**


	3. Chapter 3:  Preparations

**Chapter Three: Preparations**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.**

"Are you CRAZY?" shrieked Sam as they decorated the park. Rather than holding this at a restaurant, they had decided to have the first part in the park since there would be a lot of quick, easy escapes. They had also unleashed the box ghost on the town and dropped a few misleading hints about where Danny Phantom would be just in case any enterprising ghost hunters decided to try and capture him while he was distracted—well, all of them except for Valerie. Although she in no way supported what the two boys were doing, Sam had decided to come along and keep an eye on things after she'd heard about how the huntress was going to be there. "She's going to try and waste you, Danny!"

"Most likely," he admitted, "but she promised that she'd at least give me a chance. Besides, you and Tucker will both be there to watch my back."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly what Tucker's going to have his eyes on when there's a bunch of beautiful girls walking around," said Sam sarcastically.

"Hey! I can totally check out girls and be there for my best friend," said Tucker, grinning at him as he held up a paper lantern. "And do you really think Valerie would risk the wrath of the Phan Club just to waste Phantom?"

"YES!" exclaimed Sam, totally exasperated. "She's obsessed with destroying you, Danny, or did you forget that?"

Danny let out a long breath and smiled at her. "Calm down, Sam. I know you don't trust Valerie, but I do. She's a good person, and this might be the one chance that I have to finally get through to her. If I can keep her from pulling that trigger for just a few minutes, then maybe we can finally come to an understanding. And if not . . . well, you know that I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. I promise, Sam, that at the first sign of trouble I'll get out of there, okay?"

"Argh! You are just so clueless sometimes!"

"And you're just too jealous sometimes," teased Tucker, and Sam shot him a dark look that made him regret the comment the second it popped out of his mouth. Sam's feelings for Danny were about as taboo as things got, and commenting on it was sure to bring her wrath down on him.

"I am NOT jealous!" she snapped, but then she let out a long breath as she forced herself to calm down a little so that they might listen to her. "I just don't want one of my best friends to get killed because of some stupid plan to raise money, Tucker. This whole thing was a bad idea to start, and now it's just that much worse since Valerie's going to use it as a chance to destroy Danny. I thought that at least _you _would agree with me on this."

"I'll be fine," sighed Danny before Tucker could say a word, and he was really, really getting tired of repeating himself. He wished that Sam would just trust him for once, since Danny knew that Valerie was a good person, but even now Sam didn't want to see that. "Seriously, Sam, I'm more worried about Paulina trying to kidnap me than I am Valerie trying to blast me."

"Getting kidnapped by Paulina sounds like a dream, dude," teased Tucker, and Danny grinned. Taking a quick glance around and seeing no one there, he let the familiar rings pass over him and transform him into his alter ego. His green eyes sparkled in the evening sun, his white hair seeming to have a touch of gold as the dying light touched its tips, and he smiled nervously at his friends as he looked himself over.

"How do I look?"

"Like a dork in a jumpsuit," said Tucker instantly.

"Very funny, Tuck," Danny said as he flipped on the lights, and for the first time, he found himself questioning the whole idea. Sam was right. This was probably going to end in disaster, either because of a crazy obsessed fan or because Valerie chose to blast him, but he needed the money and even having a slim chance of convincing Valerie that he was good made the whole thing worth it. "Where do you want me?"

"Just hang out over there behind that blocked off table," advised Tucker. "It's better if they don't see your face until it's their turn. I mean, dude, there's only two of us, and your fans are kind of crazy."

"Yeah, I know," chuckled Danny. "And I think they're starting to show up." Looking to the other side of the park, Danny could see the first few girls approaching. Not wanting to give them a chance to go crazy, Danny turned invisible and headed behind the barrier while Sam and Tucker played defense at the door.

Although it took about ten minutes, every girl on the list arrived—as well as a few guys. Tucker hadn't exactly mentioned it to Danny, but it wasn't as if only women were interested in him, and in some cases, like with Dash, they just wanted to be able to spend five minutes with their hero, even if those five minutes could technically be called a "date." He'd let Danny freak out when it happened and deal with the consequences later, since if nothing else it'd be worth a laugh to imagine the expression on his face when Dash sat down across from him.

That and making fun of Dash for technically going on a "date" with Danny Phantom was going to be the best thing ever when they went to school the next day.

"Okay, punks, here are the rules," said Tucker, imitating Walker, but of course no one but him or Sam got the joke. "First, you all have to wait your turn. No pushing, no shoving, no backstabbing—got it? If you're the last to go, you're the last to go. If you're the first, you're the first. We already wrote up the list, so you guys just gotta deal with it and wait until it's your turn to go."

"You mean I actually have to wait to see my beloved?" moaned Paulina.

"Actually, we put you first," said Sam, "because we figured you'd be a whiny, stuck up bitch about it and we really didn't want to listen to you complaining."

"I'm first?" she sighed happily, completely ignoring Sam's insults, and Sam merely groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but there's still a few more rules, okay?" said Tucker. "Now, each of you gets five minutes with Phantom, and only five. I don't care if you think you have a 'connection' or that you should get more than that—five is all you're getting. The one that Phantom likes the most will be the one that gets a chance to go out with him for a much longer date. I'm not saying where or when that is, though, so don't ask. Anyone who doesn't get out in the five minutes is going to get knocked out by this—" he held up what looked like a bottle of perfume with the word 'Fenton" stamped across it "—and is going to have a really, really nasty headache when they wake up. They'll also be out of the running for the real date and smell like something that no ghost or human would ever want to go near."

"Seriously?" moaned someone.

"Seriously," said Sam. "Hey, guys, we're not messing around. We get that you all like him and want a chance to talk to him or maybe be with him or whatever, but if anyone tries anything to hurt him or mess with him, then this whole thing is over." Naturally, Sam couldn't help but look at Valerie as she spoke that last part, letting the huntress know that Sam wasn't going to dare let Valerie lay a finger on Danny, but Valerie seemed completely unconcerned by the goth girl's threats.

"And there's no refunds," added Tucker quickly as he tried not to roll his eyes at Sam's attempt to intimidate Valerie. Seriously, Sam was tough, but he wasn't sure whether or not she was actually a match for Valerie when the girl was wearing that high-tech ghost hunting suit. "So don't even ask. If you guys mess this up, then it's on you."

"Oh, and don't even think about asking him for a kiss or to have him sign anything lewd," added Sam darkly, glaring at Paulina.

"Now, if a ghost happens to attack while we're here, then we'll postpone this until he takes care of the ghost," said Tucker, although he and Sam seriously doubted they'd have to worry about it, what with the Box Ghost running around the town and Jazz keeping an eye on things. "If it interrupts your five minutes, then we'll finish it when he's done, okay? I've got a stop watch, so we'll keep perfect track of how much time you have while you're in there."

"Now, everybody ready?" he asked, and the crowd cheered excitedly. "Any questions?"

"Just one," called Valerie. "How will we know if he's picked us for the real date?"

"You guys all gave us your phone number," explained Tucker, not bothering to add that this meant that he also had the numbers of some of the hottest girls in school. He'd definitely be making a few calls later this week and see if he could hook up with whatever girls Danny ended up rejecting. "He'll call whoever the lucky winner is by midnight tonight. We'd have him announce it here, but we figure he's going to need some time to decide and that it'd be better if he didn't have a dozen angry fans trying to claw out the winner's eyes." The trio remembered the pageant incident all too well to make that mistake. "So if you don't hear from him by the end of the night, then don't expect a call, and don't get mad at us, okay? Whether or not he picks you is up to you and to him. We have nothing to do with the decision making process."

"So Paulina, you're up," said Tucker as he led her over to the secluded table. "The rest of you guys can sit and hang out until it's your turn."

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><p><strong>AN: And done. A little short, I know, but this felt like the appropriate place to end it and as most of you have probably guessed, the next chapter starts the dates. I have about five or six planned out (including Valerie), mostly 'cause I think actually doing twenty would get pretty boring after a while and it would mean I'd have to introduce OCs (and take some seriously huge leaps with some of the really minor characters who never have more than maybe a line in the entire series . . . ). I'm just not really willing to do that.**

**I will say that if there are any students from Caspar High that you wanna see, let me know. I've probably already got them on my list (since again, not too many students there), but just in case I missed someone obvious or you think that someone would work really, really well, let me know. No guarantees I'll include them, but I will definitely consider it.**

**I think that's it for now other than my standard plea for reviews, and a big thanks to Fugitive of Gray, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, PrennCooder, LTTHE4TH, This is my name, coopt98, Fluehatraya, ghostanimal, and Lady Lawless for their reviews.**

**'til next time!**


	4. Chapter 4:  Paulina

**Chapter Four: Paulina**

**Disclaimer: I don't own DP. For that matter, I don't even own the original idea for this fic—that came from a challenge issued by ghostanimal. :)**

**And fair warning since this is supposed to be mostly comedy: there be some angst in this chapter.  
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It had been Danny who had suggested that Paulina go first. She was sure to be the craziest of his fans, or at least that's what he'd assumed, and he was hoping to just get it over with. Sure enough, she squealed and nearly fainted when she saw him sitting there at the table, his green eyes sparkling as he smiled at her and said a simple "hello."

And then she sat there and stared at him for over a minute without saying a word.

It was the creepiest thing that Danny had ever seen. Paulina, who never kept her mouth shut for more than ten seconds even in class (where she generally substituted moving her mouth with texting her bffs instead), was being dead quiet as she stared at him, all dewy eyed and entranced, and eventually he couldn't just take it anymore. So clearing his throat a little, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"You, uh . . . You look really beautiful tonight," he stuttered stupidly, hoping that she'd stop being so quiet. It was just too eerie, and he'd kind of feel bad if she spent twenty bucks to just sit across from Phantom all slack jawed.

And, of course, this _was _Paulina, so it's not like he was lying. She always looked beautiful, at least to Danny.

"You really think so?" she said as she ran her fingers through her long, dark hair and smiled brilliantly at him. "I spent like an extra two hours on my hair tonight and it took me like forever to pick my outfit."

"Seriously?" Looking at her more closely, Danny frowned, not really seeing how she was dressed any differently than usual. It just looked like she had on a slightly nicer pink shirt than the ones that she always wore, and a flowing, knee-length white skirt instead of her usual tight blue pants.

"Well, like, I thought that I would wear my shirt with your logo on it, but after that creepy goth girl wore it that one time I couldn't bring myself to wear it, like, ever again, because who wants to wear the same thing as that loser?" she rambled. "But I couldn't just wear the same boring clothes I wear all the time when tonight was supposed to be special, you know, so I kept going through my wardrobe and nothing seemed to work, and eventually I thought that maybe I could just wear the skirt that my papa got me for my birthday last year, because even though he's a guy he actually has really, really good taste in clothes, but I think that's because he has to dress super professionally for his job and stuff and he actually talks to the girls in the clothing stores when he's trying to pick something out for me, 'cause, like, he's smart enough to realize that he doesn't actually know that much about girls clothes even though he has good taste in guy's clothes."

"Uh-huh . . ." Danny stared at her for a second, not really sure what to say or think since he'd barely followed her prattling , and he tried to pull out something that she'd said from the mess so it would at least sort of sound like he'd been listening to her. Something about her dad or clothes or something . . . "So . . . uh . . . your dad has good tastes?"

"Obviously, Phantom, and that's why I was thinking that for our wedding, we could get married at my papa's mansion in the mountains since it's really beautiful up there in the summer time," said Paulina at last, and instantly Danny felt nauseous.

"Uh, wedding?" he coughed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Aww, you're so cute when you're nervous!" she squeaked, taking his hand, and a chill ran through her when she touched him and she flinched ever so slightly. Much to his surprise, however, she didn't let go. "Oh, wow, you're really cold. I thought you'd be like really warm since you're super hot."

"I am a ghost, remember?" he teased, trying to be patient, and he couldn't help the slight blush that appeared as he thought about what she'd just said about how he actually qualified as good looking by her standards. That, and, well, she was totally flirting with him! A popular, beautiful girl wanted to date him for once instead of running in the other direction or flinging him aside like he was some sort of noxious piece of human trash, and it was kind of a nice feeling. "And unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that it's illegal for ghosts to get married in like every state."

"Oh, don't worry, my love, I can get my papa to change that," she said, smiling madly. "He's a rich and powerful man, you know?"

"Um . . . "

"And Paulina Phantom just sounds so perfect!" she squeaked. "My cousin knows a great designer, too, who can totally make me a beautiful dress that will just go perfectly with your hair and eyes and will be able to make you a really amazing suit. I was thinking for our honeymoon we could go someplace tropical and nice with a lot of sun, though, since I love the beach, or maybe we could go to Spain since some of my family still lives there and—"

"—um, I can't really leave Amity Park," he told her, which was only a half-lie, and he was starting to get a little worried. It was cute when she was flirting with him, but her wedding plans went a little too far beyond flirting for his tastes. "Amity Park is my home. I need to be here to defend it."

"I'm sure this lame town will be okay for a couple of days," she sniffed, dismissing his concerns with a wave of her free hand. "And even if it's not, I have enough money to just rebuild it and stuff, and besides, it's not like anyone popular ever gets killed in a ghost attack."

"Um, I still can't leave here, Paulina—" he began.

"Oooh! You said my name!" she exclaimed, cutting him off and smiling at him. "So when we get married, I figure that we can have like two kids, a boy and a girl—"

"—I can't have kids," said Danny, although he wasn't exactly sure if that was true or not. It seemed like ghosts could have kids at least with other ghosts—after all, Box Lunch had to come from somewhere—and humans obviously could with other humans, but he wasn't sure the case was true between humans and ghosts. It wasn't something he'd thought about much, or wanted to since he wasn't sure how being a half-ghost might make having kids one day impossible for him . . . but still, hadn't she even considered that it probably wasn't possible for a ghost and human to have a kid? Was she really this clueless?

"What?"

"I'm dead, Paulina," he said quietly, feeling worse with every word that came out of his mouth, because he didn't hate Paulina and he knew that what he was saying was going to crush her. Of course, it was because he actually did like her that he had to try and force her to give up this delusion. It wasn't going to do her any favors in the long run and Danny knew that, as much as he hated to admit it since he liked the attention she gave him as Phantom. "I'm a ghost. I can't have kids. And I won't age, either. I mean, I might end up looking a little older eventually—that happens sometimes as a ghost's powers develop—but I'm not going to be able to grow old with you or have a family with you or marry you. I'm not human. I can't—I can't pretend to live life like I am."

"But—"

"I'm sorry, Paulina," he said, pulling his hand away from hers. "I thought you understood all that."

"Oh . . . oh . . . but—but I don't care," she whispered, her eyes shining, and Danny could see a hint of tears sparkling in the corners of her eyes. "I don't care about any of that. I love you, ghost boy."

"No, Paulina, you don't," he told her as gently as he could, but in truth, there was no kind way to say what he was about to tell her. "You think I'm cute and that you'd be okay with living a life with me right now but somehow, I don't think that you're still going to feel that way in ten years, maybe even in five years. Eventually you will want a family and a life, and you can't have that with someone that's dead. I don't—I don't really want a relationship, Paulina. I don't want to get married someday. I mean, I can't, not really."

"But then why are you doing this at all?" she asked as her tears poured freely now, and she gestured half-heartedly at the table and the cheesy lights and decorations his friends had set up.

"Because . . . I wanted a chance to feel normal for once," he said, not willing to tell her that originally he and Tucker just planned this as a way make some extra money, and inside he felt himself thinking that maybe Sam was right to be against all of this if it meant making Paulina and likely a few other girls so upset for reasons beyond not getting picked for a date. But what he was telling Paulina wasn't exactly a lie, either, so he tried to focus on that as he spoke and hoped that she wouldn't hate him after this. "I wanted a chance to talk to people like you, the people who have supported me throughout the years even after the press and my-er, the Fentons- said so many horrible things about me. And I wanted to tell you that it means a lot. I'm sorry that I can't be what you want me to be, Paulina. I hope that you understand."

Suddenly a buzzer sounded, and glancing up, Danny saw Tucker emerge. "Okay, Paulina, time's up."

"I—but—"

"Goodbye, Paulina," said Danny gently, smiling at her, and the shocked girl stumbled out of the tent, not sure what to think. Walking past the others without a word, Paulina headed out of the park and to her limo, knowing as she left that she was not going to be the one to get his call.

Valerie watched the girl in silence, wondering what the ghost had said to her to make her so upset. It was hard to imagine that Phantom might ever break Paulina's heart—he seemed to like the limitless adoration she had for him—and yet it appeared he had done just that. Maybe Paulina had finally seen the truth. Maybe she finally realized that Phantom was the evil ghost that Valerie had always known him to be.

"Okay, Dash Baxter, you're up next!" called Tucker, and as the football player walked into the tent, Valerie idly wondered whether he was actually interested in a date or just looking for five minutes with his hero. Either way, if he were any one but the star quarterback, then he would have been teased mercilessly for it tomorrow, but with his position and habit of beating up anyone who even looked at him the wrong way, there was no chance that would happen.

Or at least anyone who was stupid enough to say a word about his "date" was likely going to regret it very, very quickly.

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><p><strong>AN: So yup, an early update and a _little_ bit of angst. It happens-I'm kinda bad at sticking to my genres sometimes, as well as to my update schedule. Although at the very least I doubt you guys minded the early update after the last chapter. :) **

**On another note, I'm aware that there's no Spanish in this chapter, either. I can't speak it-I took French in high school and college-so I didn't try to include it here even though I know Paulina can speak it and occasionally uses a line here or there in the show. I know one or two phrases, but, uh, they didn't really come up in this piece, and I didn't want to try and force it too much.**

**Anyway, thanks so much to Amelie Nockturne, Lady Lawless, Fluehatraya, coopt98, LTTHE4TH, ghostanimal, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, S, ColorLikeWhoa, ChopSuzi, PrennCooder, KraZiiePyrozHavemoreFun, and smallvillephantom14 for their reviews! This is the most response I've gotten to anything I've ever posted on here, so seriously, you guys made my week. :)**

**'til next time, and, as always, please review! I'm a little more nervous than usual after this chapter, so I definitely want to know what you guys thought.  
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	5. Chapter 5:  Dash

**Chapter Five: Dash**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Danny Phantom, or the original idea for this fic. This is a challenge from ghostanimal.  
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**And to coopt98, I may have made a joke in this chapter as a nod to your own joke/suggestion ('cause I'm not gonna lie, it did cross my mind when I first started this fic). Keep an eye out for it. ;)**

When Danny saw Dash enter, Danny almost lost complete control of intangibility and fell out of the chair. If it were possible to die again, then he probably would've, and scowling at Tucker he saw his friend clamp his hands over his mouth so Dash wouldn't hear him laughing at Danny's expense. "Um, you know that this is supposed to be a date, right?" Danny stuttered rapidly, and then an awful thought occurred to him. It couldn't be . . . Sure, Dash might have a disturbingly adorable teddy bear collection and a love of cheesy romances, but . . . there was no way . . . he had always dated girls in the past, and he couldn't be . . . "I mean—I can't believe that you're—'cause I'm not—I don't like guys," he finally blurted, blushing fiercely in embarrassment, and then he couldn't stop his mouth from running even though he desperately wanted to. "I mean, I don't like—_like like_ guys. I can be friends with guys and stuff, um, so if you want to be friends that's fine, 'cause, you know, friends are fine. So we can just be friends, right, and not-?"

"Hey!" exclaimed the football player, cutting him off, and for once Danny was actually glad that the football player was interrupting him. "Don't go thinking any funny thoughts! I don't like guys either, Phantom."

The relief that Danny felt just then was practically tangible. Listening to Paulina lay out her wedding plans was awkward enough, but if Dash had started to do the same . . . a shudder passed through him as he briefly pictured Dash describing their perfect wedding, and Danny forced himself to focus on what Dash had actually said before he just ran away in an attempt to escape his disturbingly overactive imagination. "So why are you here, then, if not for a d-date?"

"'cause I just wanted to talk to you," Dash explained. "I mean, it's like impossible to just talk to you since you're always fighting ghosts and stuff, and the only time I got to know you was when that weird guy hunted us when we shrunk."

"I guess I should say thanks for that again," said Danny, still a bit unnerved. He was going to kill Tucker for this as soon as this whole thing was over, if only for the obnoxious smirk he'd worn as he escorted Dash inside. "I wouldn't have made it out of that if it wasn't for you."

"I know," he said as he sat down, his nasally voice hard to deal with even at the best of times. There were days when Danny wondered if that was why the football player was such a bully—maybe he'd been made fun of for his voice, and had lashed out in the hopes that no one would ever dare to hurt him again.

Then again, maybe he was just a jerk.

"So why did you want to talk to me?" asked Danny curiously.

"Because I wanted to say thanks for everything that you do for us," said Dash. "Having you around to take care of the town and make sure that the school's still standing tomorrow means that I get to keep playing football."

_Of course it would come back to that_, thought Danny dryly, resisting the urge to sigh. Out loud, though he simply told him, "You don't need to thank me. Protecting the town is my responsibility."

"Y'know, Phantom, I've gotta ask," said Dash. "All of the other ghosts that come around here are monsters. Why the heck are you so nice, anyway?"

"Because . . . well, it was a mistake that I made that made it possible for them to come through," he explained slowly, "and I kind of felt like I should take responsibility for that and keep the town safe."

"But why do you even care about us? You're a ghost. The Fentons say that all ghosts are evil and stuff even though you're not. Is it just 'cause you like playing the hero?" asked Dash.

Danny stared at the football player in silence for a moment, a bit surprised by him. It wasn't like him to ask these kinds of questions—or any questions, really, unless they were about where Danny wanted to get punched, and that was the kind of question that had no good answer. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, some of my friends think that it's all a trick," he explained. "They say that you aren't really a hero, so I figured that if I could talk to you and figure out why you help people, then maybe they'd believe me when I tell them that you're a good guy."

"You're not just going to beat the crap out of them until they're convinced?"

"They're my _friends_," snapped Dash, "not losers like Fenturd."

"You know, Dash, beating up Danny Fenton isn't really something a good guy would do," said Danny.

"You don't get it," said Dash. "I need to establish my position at the school. If I let losers like Fentonia get the best of me, then I'm done."

Danny let out a long sigh, knowing that this was probably useless, and it was then that an idea struck him. "You want to know why I do the right thing?" he asked, and Dash nodded eagerly. "Before I—before I died, I was just a normal kid," he explained slowly, tripping slightly over the lie. It had never gotten any easier for him to say that he'd died, even when it was sort of true. "Or maybe it'd be better to say I was a weak, pathetic kid. A freak. A loser. Someone that nobody cared about except as an outlet for misplaced aggression. And then I died. I became a ghost, and suddenly, I had all these powers. I could do anything with them, anything I wanted. I could've gotten back at the bullies that harassed me, and for a little while I did."

"But the problem with that sort of thing is that it's a slippery slope," said Danny. "A little revenge here or there can make it seem okay to do something bigger, something worse later on, and eventually I realized that. Right now you're picking on guys like Danny Fenton as a way of establishing your position. You're building up a reputation based on fear instead of respect. I'm a ghost. If anyone at this table should be doing that, it should be me, but I'm not."

"I don't want people to fear me. I don't want to become some evil ghost," Danny told him. "I don't want to hurt anyone, either. All I want is to keep people safe. I don't want anyone to feel the pain that I felt when I was alive, or on the day that I died, especially because of a mistake that I made. You need to learn, Dash, that to be a hero—and not just a football star—you need to start doing the right thing instead of the easy thing. Building up a reputation based on fear is easy, especially when you pick on guys like Fenton and Mikey who are weaker than you. Building up one based on respect, though, is a lot harder, but it holds up better and lasts a lot longer."

For a long moment neither one said anything, and when Dash did finally speak, his words made Danny want to slam his head against the table. "So you're saying that you used to be a _nerd_?"

"I—yeah, Dash," sighed Danny, giving up all hope of not getting a pounding later. Although the football player's punches didn't hurt much or linger for very long, it wasn't as if Danny really wanted to get beaten up on a regular basis. Still, his getting pummeled by Dash was better than someone like Mikey getting throttled, since it wasn't as if his classmate had super powers that helped him heal any faster. Or at least as far as Danny knew Mikey didn't. "But I'm not that kid anymore."

"No, now you're a hero," agreed Dash, who was staring at him strangely, and Danny couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. "Look, Phantom, I can't say I'm gonna stop whaling on nerds and stuff. It's what I do. But maybe—I guess—well, maybe I'll go a little easier on them."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, well, if that's what you're asking me to do," said Dash, "then I think I can do at least that much."

Danny stared at the football player, wondering what to say, when suddenly the bell rang. His time was up, and Tucker came in and ushered Dash out the door, looking a little uneasy about giving the football player orders. Glancing over at Danny, Tucker flashed him a grin. "Dude, if you could've seen the look on your face when Dash walked in . . . Priceless! I wish I could've taken a picture of it."

"Yeah, yeah, you're hilarious," grumbled Danny sarcastically. "Thanks for not warning me that Dash was coming, by the way. I nearly went intangible and fell through my chair."

"So? You _are _a ghost, dude," chuckled Tucker. "It's not like it's that big a deal if you use ghost powers in front of people as Phantom."

"I guess," he sighed as thought about his "date" with Dash. "You know . . . this whole thing . . . it's kind of weird."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, well, it's starting to make me see people like Paulina and Dash as human beings," Danny told him, shaking his head, and he tried to keep himself focused on the task at hand. Wasn't this just supposed to be fun? When did it start becoming something more than that? When did it become a chance for Danny to talk to people, to make them see things a little differently than they had before? And should he even be doing it? He wasn't exactly perfect. His once dark future was a grim reminder of that, and it hung over his head even at his best moments. Still, though, it kept on happening, and silently Danny hoped that it was for the best and that he wouldn't regret what he was telling people. "So who's next?"

"Um . . . Sam, actually," said Tucker, and Danny's eyes widened.

"_Sam?"_ he gasped.

"Yeah, dude," Tucker replied. "She figured that you'd need a break from, well, everyone."

"I've only had like two dates so far," said Danny. "Aren't there over a dozen people on that list?"

"Twenty, actually," Tucker said. "I capped it out there. I figured that'd be more than enough for this month, and told everyone else that they'd be first on the list for next month. But Paulina and Dash are the worst ones, and we figured you'd want to have an intelligent conversation afterward. Although maybe we should've waited until after you went on a date with Kwan and Star."

"I'm going on dates with Kwan and Star? Next you'll tell me that I have to out with Jazz or something, too," Danny groaned, shuddering as he let his head fall on the table.

"You don't need to worry about Jazz, dude. Even I'm not that cruel, although she did ask if I would let her have a "date" with you so that she could have a chance to psychoanalyze you without you being able to run away," chuckled Tucker. "But don't worry. You've got five minutes before Kwan and Star since Sam's up first."

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><p><strong>AN: And that's Dash. So yes, obviously it didn't end up being a date . . . I know there are a lot of fics out there where Dash is actually gay, but I just felt like it'd be too easy and too obvious if I did it here. ;)**

**As for the next chapter . . . don't kill me, and consider this a warning: this fic is strictly DannyxValerie, which means there's not gonna be any lovey-dovey moments between Sam and Danny and those two are absolutely NOT going to hook up at the end; however, that doesn't mean that I'm not gonna address the DxS pairing in some way since in my mind this takes place during season three and, well, there were too many less-than-subtle hints about the DxS pairing for me to completely ignore it. So, without giving too much away . . . just be aware that if you're a diehard DxS fan (something I seriously doubt if you're reading this fic), then you might not like the next chapter very much. I'll talk about it a little bit more in my A/N at the end of the next chapter and why I felt the need to include their "date", too, but for now just consider yourselves forewarned.**

**On another note, I'm also going to do my best to get through the next few dates as quickly as possible and update a bit faster than usual. The reason? I'm moving at the end of May and then going on a vacation in that first week of June, and I don't wanna leave you guys waiting too long for the date between Danny and Valerie to happen. I've got most of the next two chapters already written, so I think it's possible. *fingers crossed*  
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**Finally, thanks to KimiUzumaki, LTTHE4TH, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, Lady Lawless, coopt98, ChopSuzi, smallvillephantom14, TPOC1, Fluehatraya, KraZiiePyrozHavemoreFun, and Fugitive of Gray for their reviews!**

**'til next time!  
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	6. Chapter 6:  Sam

**Chapter Six : Sam**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Danny Phantom or the original idea for this fic—it's a response to a challenge issued by ghostanimal.**

"So how's it going so far?" asked Sam as she strode inside and sat down across from Danny. "Did Paulina propose? I saw her crying when she came out of here."

"No," admitted Danny. "She just went straight for the wedding plans."

"Yikes. And you broke her heart when you told her no?"

"Pretty much," said Danny, letting out a long, heavy sigh.

"Wow, Danny, I think I might actually be proud of you," teased Sam. "Breaking the popular girl's heart that you've been pining after for years?"

"I haven't 'pined' after it in a long time, Sam," said Danny, rolling his eyes. "And I thought this was supposed to be a break from the crazy dates, not a recap."

"So sue me, I'm curious," she said, holding her hands up and grinning. "I mean, you've got a chance to get up close and personal with an entirely different species. That's got to be a little exciting."

"They're not another species, Sam," sighed Danny, who wasn't really in the mood to say nasty things about them at the moment since he'd actually had a chance to talk to them for a few minutes. Of course, tomorrow after Dash had shoved him into yet another locker and Paulina had said something about the way he smelled or looked would probably make him willing to jump right back in to poking fun of them. "They're just people. Lousy people, most of the time, but still people."

"That's pretty high and mighty for somebody who's selling himself to desperate women," grumbled Sam, scowling at him. "Besides, I'm not saying anything you haven't said yourself before."

"Yeah, but it's like I told Tucker . . . this whole thing is kind of bizarre," Danny explained. "It's like I have a chance to see them in a new way. It's kind of creepy."

"And what about me?" asked Sam, her expression softening and her whole demeanor changing so suddenly that it threw Danny completely off-balance. "Are you suddenly seeing me in a new way, too?"

His friends might call him clueless, but even Danny could tell she was expecting _something _from him, for him to say something or notice something about her, but he just wasn't sure what. Tucker had told him that this was just supposed to be a break from the other dates, hadn't he, so just what was going through Sam's head was a mystery to him. "Um . . ."

"Think about it, oh clueless one," she teased, as if she'd picked up on his thoughts. "We're sitting here, alone. On a date, technically speaking, since Tucker still made me pay twenty bucks for these lovely five minutes with you."

"Tucker actually made you pay?" chuckled Danny, shaking his head and desperately hoping that he'd be able to move the conversation away from—well, away from whatever it was Sam wanted to talk about, because somehow he wasn't sure he wanted to go down whatever path she was leading him down just yet. "Wow. Well, don't worry about it. I'll pay for your lunch at the Nasty Burger or something until I make up for it."

"I don't care about that," said Sam, not losing her focus one bit, and her violet eyes sparkled in the lantern light. Not for the first time, Danny noticed how beautiful she was, and it was then that he began to suspect what this might be about, that he realized just what it was Sam wanted him to understand. "Danny, seriously, this is the first time that we've actually had a chance to just talk to each other without Tucker or some ghost-well, some other ghost, anyway-coming in between us. I guess I just . . . I want to know how you feel about me. Like, really feel about me."

"Well, you're my best friend, Sam," he answered instantly, and from the look in her eyes that clearly wasn't the response she had been hoping for, but deep down he knew that already.

"And?"

"And . . . well, I guess there are times when I wonder if maybe we couldn't be something more than that," admitted Danny slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. He knew Sam would recognize the nervous habit in a heartbeat, but he couldn't help it. He was nervous. Really, really nervous.

"But?" prompted Sam.

"But I don't want to be," he said, and he could practically feel her heart breaking with every word as he watched her lower lip tremble slightly and every ounce of hope she'd had in her expression seem to shatter to pieces. "You're my best friend. You always will be my best friend. When I think about you becoming something more than that, it just—it scares me, Sam. I worry about you getting hurt. I worry about what would happen to our friendship if things didn't work out between us."

"And what? You don't think that it's worth the risk, that what we get out of a relationship together couldn't be any better than just being 'friends'?" she whispered.

"It's not just that. I mean, right now, I'm just not that sure exactly how I feel about you," he told her. "At least, I'm not sure enough that I'm willing to take that risk. I . . . I just don't want to date you because you're my best friend and I think we could be something more. If I go out with you someday, I want it to be because I know that I love you, that I really love you, and that you really love me."

"You think I don't love you?" said Sam bitterly.

"I wonder sometimes if you really do," he admitted. "I mean . . . we're friends. And you're-well, you're amazing, Sam. You push me to be a better person, to do the right thing, and to be someone incredible. But sometimes . . . I guess I feel like you wouldn't be okay if one day I decided that I didn't want to be a hero anymore, or if I decided to be a little selfish."

"Danny, you know that's not true," she argued. "I'll support you no matter what you decide you want to do with your life."

"Because you're a good friend," he told her. "But if one day I said that I wanted to stop fighting all the time, if one day I told you that I wanted to let someone else be a hero for a while, you wouldn't leave me alone. You'd push and push until I went back to it, even as it destroys me—"

"—are you saying that I don't care if you get hurt?" she snapped, tears burning in the corners of her eyes and threatening to burst.

"No, Sam," he said quietly. "I know that you do. But I'm saying that I think that as much as you believe you love me, as much as you'll always stand by me, you don't actually like me when I'm just an ordinary kid, when I'm just plain old Danny Fenton. At least not anymore."

"I have never—not once—said that your powers define who you are," Sam told him, trembling slightly. "It's how you use those powers. And if—if you think, Danny Fenton, that you could just sit back and watch the world crumble down around you even if you lost your powers tomorrow, then I don't think you know yourself half as well as you think. You're a hero, Danny. You do the right thing—"

"—and I'll keep doing it, for now," he admitted, wishing he could figure out how to say what he desperately needed to tell her. "But Sam, one day I'm probably going to have to stop. I might only be half alive, but I want to have a life, and I just . . . I'm not sure if you're the one that I want to have that with. I'm not sure if I'm really the one you want to have that life with, either. I mean, you, me and Tucker spend so much time with each other that I feel like if we went out, it would just be because there's no one else who knows what's going on or that we can talk to about all the ghost hunting and my secret and stuff with. I mean, do you even _talk _to anyone other than me and Tucker? Like, really talk?"

"No," she admitted quietly. "But I don't want to."

"But maybe you should," he said. "Me, too, for that matter."

"Are you saying you really want a repeat of the whole Valerie situation?" she scoffed.

"Yeah, actually," admitted Danny. "That's part of the reason why I'm doing this, Sam. I'm trying to reach out and talk to other people. I want to make sure that if I like you, it's because I really like you, and not because it's just more convenient or simpler than trying to have a relationship with someone else. And . . . I guess I want you to make sure, too. Please, Sam?"

"Okay, Danny," she said, but her heart wasn't in it, and they sat there in silence, Sam working on composing herself until the bell rang again and Tucker came in to usher her out. He looked like he was ready to congratulate them until he saw the dark look on both of their faces, and quietly he mouthed something to Sam before stepping outside.

And as Danny watched her walk out, he couldn't help but wonder if he had actually done the right thing this time.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ack! This chapter was tough. Not to mention that for what was meant to be a light, fluffy fic there sure is a lot of angst, eh?**

****And, on another note, I should've realized that saying "faster updates" would instantly be a total jinx and that I would suddenly find myself working an extra twenty hours a week and spending all my free time preparing to move. I blame the books. I never realize just how many I have until I have to move 'em . . . someday I'll narrow down my collection. _Someday._  
><strong>**

**Anyway, now I know that I could've skipped any mention of the DxS thing here, but again, my main reason for including it is because this is supposed to take place sometime during Season Three when Hartman was literally hammering the DxS pairing into the viewers. Since there were a lot of less than subtle hints about it, I just felt the need to address and get it out of the way so that Danny would be open to (and even prefer) a relationship with Valerie again even though it's clear he's also thought about the possibility of Sam becoming more than just a friend. I mean, this might be about Val falling for Phantom, but love works both ways, y'know? ;)  
><strong>

**There are a handful of other reasons why I ultimately decided to include it, but seriously, I don't want this already stupidly long A/N to be longer than the chapter, so if you wanna know more, just ask.**

**For those of you that might've hated it, don't worry. There shouldn't be anything else in this fic revolving around the whole DxS pairing, good, bad, or otherwise, 'cause like I said at the start, this is a response to a challenge that has a DxV pairing at the heart of it. And I'll try to make the next chapter a little lighter. ;)**

**Finally, thanks to KimiUzumaki, Fluehatraya, coopt98, starhedgehog1117, smallvillephantom14, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, ChopSuzi, LTTHE4TH, acosta perez jose ramiro, and KraZiiePyrozHavemoreFun for their reviews! This is officially my first story on fanfiction to pass the 50+ reviews mark, so needless to say I'm totally off-the-wall thrilled. :D  
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**'til next time!  
><strong>


	7. Chapter 7:  Kwan

**Chapter Seven: Kwan**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, or the original idea for this fic. It's a response to a challenge made by ghostanimal.**

**And, uh, beware of some OoC-ness ahead . . .**

It was almost as creepy as those first few minutes with Paulina, and it was only made worse by the thoughts of his last "date" turning in his mind. Danny really, really needed a distraction at the moment, and having Kwan sitting there just starting at him wasn't working for him.

"Um, Kwan?" said Danny for the third time as the Asian American football player sat there gaping at him. "Are you in there?"

"You actually know my name?" he gasped, grinning wildly and speaking at last.

"Yeah," confirmed Danny. "I know—I mean, I've tried to learn everyone's names tonight. You know, to be polite and stuff . . . um . . . so what did you want? I mean, you're not actually here on a date, so . . . what gives? Did Dash make you or something?"

"Dash wouldn't make me do something like this," he said, and then he smiled at him, "and going on a date is _exactly _what I wanted."

"Wait, what?" choked Danny, his face going pale. Well, paler than usual, at any rate. "But you—I mean—you had—I mean have—a girlfriend, don't you?"

"Well, yeah," he admitted, running a hand through his hair. "But it's not like I can just come out and say that I like guys. I have to pretend otherwise Dash would murder me and the coach would probably kick me off the team."

"Seriously?"

"This town isn't exactly open minded about that sort of thing," said Kwan, shrugging. "I'm going to go to college out of state, though. Somewhere where the people are okay with my choices about who I want to be with."

"Do your parents know?" Danny asked, still in shock. He couldn't believe it. Kwan—the same football player that beat him up on a regular basis, Dash's number one sidekick, and the clueless jock that had dated and made out with more women than just about anyone else at Casper High—was gay?

"No," he admitted. "I'll tell them eventually, just not yet. They're gonna freak out. But who cares about that right now, right?" He leaned over, placing his hand over Danny's, and Danny had to resist the urge to turn invisible and get the hell out of there.

"Um . . . yeah. I'm sorry, Kwan, but I'm not—I'm not gay," said Danny.

"I figured as much," he told him, still smiling. "And you're dead, anyway. It's not like a relationship between us could ever work. I just wanted to have five minutes of something . . . real. Just five minutes where I didn't have to pretend to be a brainless jock obsessed with girls when I really just wish I could be kissing Dash or one of the other guys."

"I'm not going to let you kiss me," said Danny, and this time he did go intangible—well, his hand, anyway.

"I wasn't going to try," said Kwan, rolling his eyes. "Like I said, I just wanted five minutes to be myself. I mean, you're cool, right? You're not going to tell anyone?"

As much as Danny would have loved to use this against the jock that had heartlessly stuffed him into a locker more times than he could count, he couldn't bring himself to break the football player's trust, especially since he now felt like he understood him, at least a little bit. Kwan was what he had suspected Dash might've been—a bully who hid what others would perceive as a weakness by pounding fear into others. He'd always just thought of Kwan as a brainless lackey, not a person, so it was weird to think that there was really more to him than that.

It seemed like this night was just full of strange awakenings.

"No. Of course not. I mean, that'd be kind of harsh. I remember high school well enough to at least know that," agreed Danny at last.

"What were you like then?" asked Kwan curiously. "Dash said that you were a nerd."

"He told you that, huh?" chuckled Danny. "Yeah, well, he's not wrong. I was a nerd. I got beaten up all the time. Picked on because I was different—or, well, my family was."

"Your family?"

"Yeah. My parents were inventors," he explained, and idly he wondered if maybe he shouldn't be giving out so much information about himself. After all, just because people didn't know about half-ghosts didn't mean that they might not be able to figure it out if he gave them enough information. "They were really weird, too, and people always figured that I had to be strange because of them. So I got picked on all the time. I was called a loser, a geek . . ."

"Wow, that sucks, bro," said Kwan sympathetically, and he cocked his head to the side suddenly, studying him carefully. "You know, it's weird . . . you kind of remind me of that geek, Danny Fenton. You probably don't know him, but his parents are those crazy ghost hunters that are always running around in those weird jumpsuits."

"Similar lives, I guess," shrugged Danny, trying to play it off as a coincidence and ignoring the comment about his parents. It's not as if Kwan was wrong-his parents kind of were crazy ghost hunters, after all. "But he's still amongst the living. Unlike me."

"What happened to you?" asked Kwan.

"I was killed in a lab accident," he explained softly, "by one of my parents' inventions. Electrocuted, actually."

Kwan winced. "And then you became a ghost?"

"I guess," said Danny, shrugging. "I might've died through it, but I don't really remember how it happened."

"How long ago did you die?"

"I'm not sure," lied Danny. "My memories are kind of messed up, but I guess that's normal for ghosts."

"Hmm . . . You ever miss it?"

"Miss it?" repeated Danny, not sure what he meant.

"Being alive," asked Kwan. "I mean, you can do all those amazing things—walk through walls, disappear, fly . . . it seems kind of awesome."

"It is," admitted Danny, "but I'm pretty sure I'd trade it all for a chance to be alive again. You only get one chance, you know? Now that I'm dead, I can't be with my family or friends anymore. Even if I tried, there'd always be a space there, a kind of emptiness . . . And I can't ever have a family of my own, either. I can't have kids. I can't have a real relationship."

"Then what's with the speed dating?" said Kwan, gesturing at the booth. "If the whole thing is pointless?"

"You wanted five minutes where you could be yourself," said Danny. "Originally I would've said that I just wanted a chance to talk to my fans, but I guess I also wanted five minutes where I could pretend I was someone else, too. Someone alive."

And, as if right on cue, the bell rang, signaling the end of Kwan's turn. "Well, it was fun while it lasted," sighed Kwan, and as if donning a mask, a carefree, stupid grin appeared on his face as he exited. It was strange for Danny, being able to relate to Kwan, even for a moment. Both of them wore a mask every day. Both of them pretended to be someone else, something different than what they were, but while Kwan might be able to be himself one day, Danny was pretty sure he would never have that chance.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, yeah. A tad odd and a little short, right? But I kind of liked it. I thought about doing this with Dash-having him actually want a date with Danny Phantom and not just a chance to talk to him-but he just felt too obvious or easy to do, so . . . Kwan it was. I mean, we watch the series and we always assume that Danny is the only one at Casper High that is constantly wearing a mask, but somehow, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other characters were, too, 'cause, well, that's high school, right?**

**And now, on another note . . . it is probably going to be a while before I update. This weekend I'm moving-which may be madness, given the holiday-and while the company I use says they'll be around sometime next week to do the installation, I feel like they're going to take longer, given it took them over three weeks last time I moved. I'm also going on a short vacation at the beginning of June, so . . . yup. Might be a couple of weeks, so just bear with me, 'kay?  
><strong>

**Thanks, as always, go out to my awesome reviewers: BrandyMyDog, ghostanimal, Fluehatraya, DP-shrine-in-closet-girl, acosta perez jose ramiro, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, MsFrizzle, ChopSuzi, Zorobak, KraZiiePyrozHavemoreFun, coopt98, YourFavoriteCONTRACTOR, and Reid Phantom.**

**And I think that's it. Hopefully you guys didn't hate this too much, and if you did, well, same as the DxS thing-it's not really going to come up again in this fic, so don't worry about it.  
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**'til next time!  
><strong>


	8. Chapter 8:  Star

**Chapter Eight: Star**

**Disclaimer: By now, you should know the drill. I don't own Danny Phantom or the original idea for this story. It's a response to a challenge made by ghostanimal.**

**And a question, praise for reviewers, and excuses for the lateness of this chapter at the bottom.  
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"So . . . it's Star, right?" said Danny slowly as the popular girl sat down across from him, a dark cast to her expression as she tossed her long, blond hair over her shoulder. As he sat looking at her, Danny realized that he rarely saw her genuinely smile. Sure, she put on a fake smile around Paulina a lot, but a real one . . .? It seemed like that only happened when Valerie was around. Most of the time, though, she just looked annoyed or like she'd just caught a whiff of something foul. "It's nice to meet you."

"Too bad I can't say the same," she said coldly, making Danny wince. "You know I don't even like you, right?"

"Actually, I didn't," he admitted, and he really hadn't. From what he'd seen at school, Star appeared to be an ardent supporter of Danny Phantom, going as far as buying the t-shirt with his logo on it to carrying around the occasional Phantom plush. She'd also never said anything bad about Phantom, either, at least not where Danny could hear her, but then again she was Valerie's friend. Maybe Valerie had finally managed to convince Star that Phantom was evil or something. "But if you hate me, then why are you here?"

"Because it's not as if I can say that I didn't want to come to Paulina," she grumbled. "She practically twisted my arm to get me to join that silly Phan Club, and she insisted I come here tonight so that if I got your stupid call later I could forfeit my date to her or something. We are friends, after all. The least I could do was be here for her, but, like, then you went and made Paulina cry tonight. What did you say to her, anyway? I didn't get a chance to talk to her before she jumped into her limo."

"Just the truth," said Danny. "I told her that she should give up her dreams of marrying somebody like me. Is that a bad thing?"

Star frowned at him, her gaze calculating, and Danny shivered slightly underneath it. He barely knew Star, even though the girl was the best friend of his ex-girlfriend and the friend of the most popular girl in school, yet he was starting to think that she might be a bit sharper than he'd ever given her credit for. He knew she didn't like him as Danny Fenton, though, which made him doubt he'd be able to sway her to his side as Phantom even if she got to know him a bit better.

"No," she said at last. "Paulina needed a serious wake-up call. It was for the best."

"So if you still think I did the right thing there, then why do you hate me? I'm not a bad ghost, I swear. I just want to protect the town and keep people safe."

"I hate you, ghost, because you ruined my best friend's life!" Star snapped as if it ought to be obvious, and perhaps if he wasn't so clueless, it would have been. "Or is there some other ghost named Phantom that Val's obsessed with destroying because of what he did to her and her dad?"

"Hey, come on, I didn't mean for all that stuff to happen to Valerie," he argued. "I really didn't. See, there was this ghost dog that worked at her dad's place, and Val though Cujo was mine but he wasn't. He just seemed to like following me around, and I just—because of a lot of bad timing and Cujo being kind of clueless and me not knowing how to handle a dog, well, her life got wrecked because of it. It happened when I was still kind of figuring out what I was doing and was new to the whole being a ghost thing and—look, I'm sorry, okay? I've already said all this to Val, and while I guess she has a right to be upset about it there's nothing I can do to fix it now. I can't change what happened to her and her dad, no matter how much I want to, but trust me when I say that I would if I could."

"I don't hate you because of that," said Star, waving a hand dismissively. "I get that you made a mistake or whatever since I've seen all of the good that you've done often enough to know that you're not evil or anything."

If he'd been confused before, it was only worse now, and staring blankly at her Danny asked, "Then why do you hate me if you know that it was just a mistake and that I didn't mean for that stuff to happen to Val?"

"I hate you because you made her hate you," she explained, looking down at her trembling fists on the table, and she spoke softly then but with such intensity that Danny couldn't help but listen. "She's hell bent on revenge, pushes herself too hard, and one day she's going to get hurt—really hurt—and it's going to be your fault because you made her hate you that day. Because some stupid billionaire keeps giving her ghost weapons, and even after he stopped, she got that new suit or whatever that's practically hardwired into her body. And I hate that. Now there's no way for me or even her Dad to get her to stop unless she actually chooses to stop, and every time you fight her it just gets worse. She won't stop fighting ghosts no matter what now, and she fights you more often than any other ghost out there, too."

"I always go easy on her," said Danny uneasily, and he was a bit surprised that Star knew about Valerie's secret profession.

Then again, maybe he shouldn't have been. She was Val's best friend, and Val probably needed someone she could talk to about her exploits that wasn't her father. After all, Danny certainly did, too, which is why he would've told Sam and Tucker the truth about his powers even if they hadn't been there on the day of his accident.

"And what about the other ghosts that she hunts?" growled Star, her eyes snapping up to meet his, and hers was the kind of gaze that made Danny shiver even in ghost form. "Do they go easy on her, too?"

"No, but I try to fight as many ghosts as I can so she doesn't have to, and—"

"—and one day you're just not going to be there, either because you'll be destroyed or you'll be too busy fighting some other ghost to help Val," interrupted the popular girl, her eyes seething. "If I had a way to destroy you, ghost, I'd do it right now. I'd wipe you out in a heartbeat to save my friend."

"Valerie isn't half as weak as you think she is," argued Danny. "She can take care of herself."

"You say that, ghost, but she's gotten badly hurt before, and she's not like you. She's not dead already, and if she gets hurt badly enough, she won't ever be able to come back from it," said Star, and she let out a long breath, shaking her head. "But she's just too stubborn to stop fighting."

"I know all too well how human she is, and just how stubborn she is, too. Even if she did win against me one day, it wouldn't matter, though. Don't you get it, Star? Destroying me isn't going to stop Valerie from hunting ghosts," Danny explained gently. "If I di—I mean, if I was destroyed, then she would just move on to the next ghost, and there's nothing that you, or me, or her father can do to stop her. You know how obsessed she is, and it's not my fault that she won't give this up now even though I've told her the truth about how what happened to her was an accident. So what do you want from me, Star?"

_'How can I make you stop hating me?' _he wondered, but somehow, Danny knew it wasn't possible. As long as Valerie fought ghosts, Star would hate Danny Phantom, and there was no way Valerie was ever going to stop as long as she was capable of fighting. It would take her getting seriously hurt or worse for her to hang up her ghost hunting gear for good.

"I don't know," she admitted, for as much as she hated what Danny was saying, she couldn't deny that it was the truth. She knew Val just as well as he did, if not better. "I guess . . . I want you to promise that you'll keep her safe—as safe as you can, at any rate. I want you to protect her, even if that means you end up being destroyed, spook."

"You don't need to ask me to do that," said Danny quietly, looking her straight in the eyes. "I already decided to do that a long time ago. I care about Valerie a lot. I—She's a good person. I don't want to see her get hurt anymore than you do."

Star stared at him coolly, and Danny couldn't help but be surprised by the girl sitting in front of him. He had only ever seen the popular, pretty mean girl that hung around with the A-listers, who seemed to be both a part of their group and yet little more than a mindless follower, but now . . . It was no wonder she and Valerie were so close. They were both stronger than they appeared, both smarter and more observant, but somehow there was something much, much more terrifying about Star than there could ever be about Valerie. "I'll talk to Valerie," she said, and Danny looked at her, hopelessly confused.

"What?"

"I still don't like you. I doubt that I'll ever like you because of how you've changed Val, but I'll tell her that you're a good ghost," she explained. "And I'll try to get her to back off hunting you since that will make it easier for you to keep her safe."

"She's just going to think I manipulated you," sighed Danny, shaking his head. "And you told me you already knew I was a good ghost. What's the point if you've said this to her before?"

"I asked you for a favor," said Star, "and the least I can do is try to help make it easier for you in return. And you always have five minutes to convince her tonight."

"Yeah, I just hope I can," he chuckled softly, and for a minute neither one spoke. Danny didn't really expect her to say anything else, but then, her voice cut through the silence, this time slightly uneasy.

"Phantom?"

"Yeah?"

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to say this, but . . . be careful when you talk to Valerie tonight," she warned. "She's probably going to—" But the popular girl didn't get a chance to finish. The buzzer rang, and before Danny could stop him Tucker ushered Star out.

In all honesty, though, Danny wasn't that surprised that Valerie had some kind of secret plan of attack worked out against him tonight. He just hoped that she was true to her word and that she would actually give him five minutes to convince her not to destroy him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:So, first things first: apologies for the delay. Initially things were just going to be slow because of the move and getting my internet set up, but then my laptop died. I guess I shouldn't be terribly surprised-it is about six years old now-but it did leave me mostly computer-less and without the chapter I'd written. **

**Not too thrilled about that, actually, since I don't feel like my forced re-write is quite on par with the way I had this originally written, and I was kinda frustrated about the whole thing so it took me a while to work up the desire to write this all over again. Mostly, though, I'm just sorry it took so long since the chapters for this story tend to be on the shorter side. -_-**

**Anyway, after some effort and a little money, I've managed to get my laptop working again for now, so with any luck it won't be a so long before I update again. At the very least, I'll be backing things up even more than I used to as a just in case until I can replace my computer all together.  
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**Second, a question for all of you. See, I kinda feel like this chapter is a good set up for Val to come in, and I don't want to wait any longer to do that date both because I feel like the fic will start dragging if I actually do show too many more dates and because I'm mildly concerned about my computer failing again. However, I did have a couple of other possible dates in mind that I could do. So my question to all of you is: would you prefer I hold off on Valerie and show those dates here, or would you prefer that I get Valerie done and do those dates in a separate one-shot collection later or as "deleted scenes," so to speak, at the end of the fic?  
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**Lemme know, 'cause like I said, I can't make up my mind about it, and I've love to get some feedback from you guys regarding that if you feel up to it.  
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**In any case, thanks, as always, to my awesome reviewers: Hebi R, KraZiiePyrozHavemoreFun, ghostanimal, Somnialunae, Fluehatraya, Lady Lawless, Reid Phantom, ChopSuzi, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, acosta perez jose ramiro, DP-shrine-in-closet-girl, Neverland45, KimiUzumaki, nycorrall, Lord Jace, 6Black Key Wings9, Kigy, lion799, LTTHE4TH, MsFrizzle, HaiJu, and YourFavoriteCONTRACTOR.  
><strong>

**'til next time!  
><strong>


	9. Chapter 9:  Valerie

**Valerie**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Danny Phantom or the original idea for this story. It's a challenge I accepted from Ghostanimal.**

**Reasoning behind skipping straight to Val is at the bottom. Hope you guys enjoy-this chapter's a long one. ;)  
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What had started as a desperate attempt to make a few bucks to pay for Doomed had definitely become something drastically different. The more people Danny had a "date" with—for really, what he'd quickly learned was that only about half of the people who had come had any interest in even trying to date Phantom—the more he learned about them. It was amazing how many people were willing to talk to him and how many were willing to tell him their darkest secrets. He just hoped he could be worthy of the trust that they had in him.

Still, it was kind of nice to have a lot of different people talk to him and tell him that they admired him, that they looked up to him and respected him, or even to be told that they didn't like him or believe in him and why. It wasn't that he needed people's thanks—he'd always protect the town because it was right, regardless of what people thought of him or how they viewed him—but it was still nice to be appreciated. Somehow, knowing that there were people who cared about what he did everyday and who acknowledged him as a hero just made his job easier.

Most of the people who came in after Star Danny didn't really know. He recognized the faces and a few names, but very few of them were people that he knew very well even though he'd gone to high school with them for years. As interesting as it was, though, sitting and talking with so many people was starting to get exhausting. Just when Danny was beginning to think he'd lose it if he had to sit through one more speed date with someone, Tucker shooed out the second to last girl and grinned at him.

"Just one left, and I'll give you two guesses who it is," he teased, and instantly Danny perked up. This was it. The chance that he'd been waiting for all night, the one person that he'd wanted to talk to more than any other, the one person that he'd never expected to come and participate.

Valerie Gray.

The minute she walked in, Danny felt as if someone had taken his breath away. She looked beautiful tonight, even more so than usual as she sat down across from him, her dark skin looking soft and warm beneath the light from the lanterns, her eyes sparkling and filled with fire as she gazed upon him, and he silently wondered if she knew how amazing she truly was.

Even though he knew that it had been partly Technus' doing, Danny didn't regret the time he'd spent dating Valerie. He liked her a lot more than he ever wanted to admit, and from time to time he still found himself looking at her, remembering the feel of her soft lips pressed against his, of her warm hand heating up his constantly icy fingers. He really wished that things hadn't ended the way they did between them.

"I'm surprised that you're here, huntress" he said, for Valerie and he were both aware of her true identity, something which he'd made clear during the Pariah Dark incident when he'd revealed Valerie to her father. "I thought that you hated me."

"I do hate you, spook," she grumbled as she took a seat, "but I promised a friend of mine that I'd be willing to listen to you."

"A friend?" he repeated, knowing full well who she meant.

"Danny Fenton," she said, the words coming out more like a growl, and inwardly he flinched. He knew she wasn't going to be too keen on talking to him, but still, he'd really hoped that she would be at least a _little _more open minded than she was acting so far. "So talk. You've got five minutes."

"Well . . . um . . . I guess I should say that I'm sorry. I mean, I've said it before, but you've never really been interested in listening before today," said Danny. "All of the things that happened to you were things that I never meant to happen,. Like the ghost dog. It was just an accident, and if I could fix it now and change what had happened then I would."

Danny fell silent, and Valerie stared at him coldly. "Is that it, ghost? What a waste of time."

"Waste of-argh!" he snapped, losing his temper. "Are you kidding me?! What more do I need to say to you to prove that I'm not the bad guy?! I've spent months fighting every day trying to protect the people of this town from getting killed while you've shot at me along with all of the other stupid ghost hunters—"

"—oh, so now I'm stupid, huh?!" she growled, jumping to her feet and slamming her hands against the table, and she was about two seconds from walking away. "I knew this was a bad idea! I should've just attacked you already, but no, I had to give you a chance because a couple of friends convinced me that it might be a good idea. Well, no offense, but I've done just as much as you, and all of that was without some evil plot—"

"—what evil plot?!" yelled Danny as he, too, jumped to his feet and glared at her. "What the hell kind of evil plot would involve me pretending to protect the town for months?! What kind of plot would be so good that I'd spend my afterlife getting attacked by my own kind and hunters every day?! Don't you get it, Valerie?! I'm not evil!"

"Oh, you're not, are you?" she snapped. "Then what about the mayor, and those robberies—"

"—FOR THE LAST TIME, I WAS FRAMED!" he shouted. "And when those robberies happened, I was being controlled! By a human, no less! I mean, seriously, Valerie, what the hell does a ghost need with jewels and money, anyway?!"

"Maybe it's just your obsession!" she argued, gritting her teeth.

"_My obsession?!_" he shrieked. "That's rich, coming from a girl who's so blinded by revenge that she's turned ghost hunting into a never ending obsession!"

"I am not obsessed!"

"Oh, yeah?!" he snapped. "Then prove it right now!"

"What?"

"You heard me!" he proclaimed as he thrust his arms out wide. "You can destroy me right now if you want, but only if you promise that once I'm gone, that once your revenge is complete, you'll quit ghost hunting for good! If you can actually do that, then maybe, just _maybe_, I'll believe that you're not obsessed!"

For a moment Valerie was stunned into silence, and she almost considered pulling out her blaster and doing just what he asked, but then she frowned at him and chuckled darkly. "Oh, you almost had me, ghost. Nice trick. I shoot you and what? Your duplicate gets destroyed? Your fellow ghosts destroy the town after I quit?"

"I'm not a duplicate," he told her, his voice echoing as his anger slowly began to die, "and if another ghost comes and tries to hurt you or your friends after I'm gone, then you can pick up your blaster and take care of it. But otherwise, you have to leave it to the Fentons and the other professional ghost hunters. No going out late at night and spending all of your free time tracking down a ghost. No spending all of your free time upgrading your weapons. You have to quit, permanently."

"And if you do that, if you swear that you'll do it, then I'll let you destroy me right now," he said, his voice trembling, because honestly, he was really scared that she would call his bluff, and if she did . . . well, then he'd be dead. Really dead. "Give up your obsession and take me out, or admit that your addiction to ghost hunting goes way beyond just getting revenge on me."

"You would really let me destroy you, spook?" she wondered, whipping out a blaster to see if he'd flinch, but Danny didn't so much as blink. "Just like this?"

"If it's what you really want, and if it'll get you to stop putting yourself at risk, then . . . yeah," he said softly, the last of his anger fading away as his arms slowly fell to his sides, and for the first time he truly saw just how much he'd screwed up her life. When had Valerie—cool, smart, popular Val—gone from being just another innocent teenage girl to a person who had dedicated her life to fighting ghosts? When had she become so consumed by her passion that she'd destroy a ghost in cold blood like this? When had destroying ghosts become the only thing she thought about?

Of course, the answer was simple: it happened the day that Cujo came crashing through her life with Phantom in tow, but never before had Danny realized just how _wrong_ it was to see the way she was now until he spoke to her after so many other, seemingly normal girls who were generally more concerned with falling in love or the latest fashion trends. That wasn't to say that Danny wanted her to be an airhead like Paulina, nor did he even want her to completely give up ghost hunting since she was actually pretty good at it, but he sure as hell didn't want ghost hunting to be the only thing that Val cared about in her life.

After all, as a fellow ghost hunter, he knew how precious those moments of peace and quiet were, but there were moments like this when he doubted that Val remembered just how good it felt to be, well, normal. To be human. To be boring.

"I—I'm worried about you, Valerie," admitted Danny, "and while I'd rather be there to try and help keep you safe, I'm willing to give up my li—my afterlife if it means that you'll quit putting yourself through this."

Valerie stared at him suspiciously, not sure what to think. She knew that this had to be a trap. Somehow, Phantom was misleading her, lying to her and trying to convince her to give up her life's purpose on the pretense that it would keep her safer . . . and while she couldn't deny that she'd gotten hurt in the past or that she'd put herself in harm's way more than once, she still didn't believe that he cared enough about her to give up his afterlife so that she would stop what she was doing.

"I'm not obsessed, and I'm not going to destroy you like this," she growled, putting the blaster away at last and sitting back down, but she was trembling slightly, her anger still present even as she was forcing herself to calm down. "You still have a couple of minutes, spook, and I'm still not convinced that I should trust you."

"So how can I convince you?" he asked, sitting back down as well as he resisted the urge to argue that it was her obsession that had stopped her from wasting him. It would be pointless. A waste of time. This was supposed to be a chance to get her to stop hating him, and he wouldn't be able to do that if they just fought for five minutes.

"Tell me something, spook," she said after a brief second's thought. "Why do you protect the town?"

"That seems to be a popular question tonight," chuckled Danny, his own frustration slowly fading away, but Valerie wasn't laughing. "And it's the same as you. There are people here that I want to protect and keep safe, and I have a responsibility to use my powers to do what I can to make sure that they get to keep living the life that I'll never have."

"None of the other ghosts seem to think that they need to do it, though," said Valerie.

"Yeah, well, they don't have any reason to want to protect Amity Park," Danny replied. "I do. I have friends here, family—"

"—ghosts can have families?" she interrupted.

"I was alive once, you know."

But Valerie hadn't known—or at least, she hadn't thought about it before. From what she knew, most ghosts were nothing more than mere imprints left behind when someone died and little more than an echo of the person they had once been. The only thing left of them was their obsession, a fixation so powerful that it overruled what loyalties they might have to the people and places they once cherished, and that same obsession left them hollow and incapable of feeling complex emotions. There were a few ghosts that were created in the Ghost Zone and that emerged naturally there—or so Vlad Masters and others claimed—but most ghosts were created the old fashioned way when someone died. Valerie had never once given a thought to who Danny Phantom might have been while he was still breathing.

"I guess I kind of forgot," she admitted, her eyes locked on the boy for a moment as she studied him and tried to think if she'd ever seen anyone like him before, but for some reason the only person she could come up with was Danny Fenton. That was ridiculous, though. Danny was still alive—there was no way Phantom could be his ghost—but maybe they were related somehow. Maybe that was why Danny was so desperate to believe that Phantom was a good ghost. If Phantom was actually the ghost of his cousin or something, then that might be why Danny was so determined to believe that he was good and not evil, because who would want to believe that someone they cared about might have become a monster?

"Do you remember much?" she wondered.

"More than most ghosts," he said, skirting the question ever so slightly.

"Do you remember how you died?" she pressed, partly because she was now interested and partly because she hoped that she might be able to use the information against him later, if it came to it. She didn't even consider whether it might be rude or not to ask. After all, he was just a ghost.

"In an accident," said Danny softly, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Like a car crash?"

He shook his head. "No. It was an accident in my parent's lab. I was messing around with something I shouldn't have and I got electrocuted." He knew it might be stupid to give her so much information, but he just didn't want to lie to her anymore. He hated lying to her, to everyone, really, and he was worried that if he lied too much and she found out, then it would just make things worse instead of better.

"That must've been painful," she said slowly, feeling sympathy for the ghost boy for the first time as she considered how horrible being electrocuted had to be, and he nodded. "I'm surprised I never heard about it, though. This town's not that big. How long ago did it happen?"

"A long time ago, I think," he said, only sort of lying. "My memories were kind of messed up for a while after I became a ghost, and it's taken a while to get it all sorted out in my head. Sometimes, though, it feels like it just happened yesterday."

"But it was recent enough that you still have friends and family here, right?" she said, trying to get something more specific out of him.

"Yeah, but . . . but it's not like my parents know that I'm the ghost of their son," said Danny slowly, trying to figure out what to say to her without lying but without outright telling her that he was Danny Fenton. It might've been easier if he was willing to just be less than honest, but the whole point of this date with her was to get him to trust him, to maybe even like him, and that wasn't going to happen if he just kept misleading her. "I tend to avoid them . . . I don't want to make them upset."

"But you're a good ghost, aren't you?" said Val, and there was something about her tone that made Danny uneasy, like she was baiting him somehow.

"Yeah . . ."

"So why would they be upset?" she scoffed. "Their son is a hero, right? Wouldn't they be proud of you if they knew who you were, unless you're actually not the good ghost you—"

"—damn it, Val, I thought—" he began, but he stopped. No. He couldn't get angry with her again, not right now. It would just lead to more fighting, and that was what she wanted. Val was good at fighting and he knew that she wanted a fight right now because it would just be so much easier, but that's not what Danny wanted her to remember about this night or what he wanted to get out of it. He didn't want to keep doing this with her.

"You thought what?"

"How would you feel if the ghost of your mom showed up?" he said quietly as a flash of inspiration struck him, and her eyes widened. He knew he might be going too far, but he couldn't think of a better way to do this, to explain to her why he couldn't tell his parents without telling her everything about himself, and right now he just wasn't ready to trust Val with his secret. "Even if she was a good ghost and helping out the town? Don't you think that you'd be a little upset when you saw her even while you might be proud, too? I mean . . . she's dead. She died. If she was still here, then it would mean that she had something that she couldn't let go of, something that was keeping her here, but it'd only be a part of her. Ghosts . . . well, you know what the Fentons have said as well as anyone. Ghosts are nothing but echoes, nothing but the shadows of the people they once were. Would you really want to talk to your mom or see her if she was only a fraction of the person she once was, or heck, if she was even _different _than she once was because her ghost was a manifestation of one extreme part of her personality? My memories of who I was before I became Phantom are kind of vague, but I doubt I'm exactly the same as I was before the accident that killed me, and . . . I don't know. I just think that my parents wouldn't want to see me. They've moved on with their lives, but I haven't. Because I can't. I never can."

To be honest, Danny only understood some of what he said. He and Jazz had talked about this before, about what they would do if he actually died and became a full-ghost and was still around, and Jazz had been strongly against Danny telling his parents the truth for reasons he didn't entirely understand. He kind of thought it might be better if they knew, but then again, Jazz had a tendency to be right about more things than he'd like. After all, even though he was sort of half-dead, he didn't actually know much about dealing with death. The pain from that moment in time when his family had died had been intense, but it hadn't lasted, and he . . . well, he wasn't sure if he'd want to see them become ghosts or not. There were moments when he thought he would prefer to see his parents in any form after they were supposed to be dead and gone, but then there were others, like after he fought the Box Ghost or the Lunch Lady, that made him seriously question if he'd want to see his parents that way. Single-minded. Obsessed. Angry. It was a disturbing thought. There was just no guarantee what their ghosts would be like if they had one.

"I . . . I don't know," Val admitted softly, staring at the table, and Danny was amazed she wasn't shooting or screaming at him instead. He really thought she'd be angrier that he brought up her mom, but it seemed like she was actually thinking about what he'd said and considering it carefully before she spoke. It was kind of unnerving, really. Valerie was the sort of person that shot first and asked questions never, and seeing her thinking so deeply about something made him truly realize just how big a question he'd asked. "My mom's been gone for a long time, you know. I . . . I don't know how I'd feel if she turned up as a ghost."

"Which is pretty much my point," he said gently. "I don't want to upset the people that I care about. I just want to protect them."

"Even if that means lying to them?" she asked.

"You lied to your dad about your ghost hunting, didn't you?" he said, making her flinch. "You probably had good reasons for it, too."

"Yeah, and you messed that up big time, ghost," she grumbled. "Do you know how hard it is to keep on hunting ghosts when my dad checks my room every twenty minutes to make sure I haven't snuck off to do just that?"

"I can imagine," said Danny drily. After all, he did have a pretty nosy, overbearing sister at home with a similar habit of worrying incessantly about him. His mom would probably be just as bad if she knew the truth, too. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly the buzzer rang, but rather than running to the door, Valerie frowned at him carefully. "You wanna know something funny, ghost?"

"What?"

"I almost feel like I can believe your apology."

It was true, too, but that was exactly the problem. Ghosts weren't supposed to be capable of sympathy or remorse, so how was it that he actually seemed to be feeling those emotions? It was definitely suspicious, to say the least, and Valerie knew that there was no way he could possibly be sincere even though he sounded like he really was. But then again, maybe there was a way to check out how honest this ghost was. He did tell her a few things tonight, like about how he'd died and how he had family in Amity Park, and it would be easy enough to check out once she got home.

And if it was true, then maybe, just maybe, she'd start to believe him a bit more about being a good ghost. She doubted she'd be throwing him a parade anytime soon, but maybe they could have a truce. Maybe they could even work together someday. They did make a good team.

And Valerie of all people definitely understood the desire to protect one's family and friends, so if she found out that he was lying to her tonight about his life and about having family in Amity Park, then she'd have her answer about the kind of ghost he was. She would know that he was evil, that he was a manipulator and a liar, and that he would need to be destroyed. That she had been right all along.

For now, though, she smiled softly as she asked, "So, ghost, did I win?" Danny stared at her for a moment as she grabbed her things to leave, trying to figure out what she was talking about, and when it clicked at last he couldn't believe it.

"You actually want to go out on a date with me?" he chuckled, his cheeks flushing slightly.

"Five minutes wasn't enough to convince me that you're even half as good as you claim," she said as Tucker and Sam walked in and shot her dark looks. "But it was a start."

"Hey, you're time is up, Val," growled Sam bitterly, doing her best to avoid looking at Danny, and he knew she was probably still upset.

"Obviously," she sighed, rolling her eyes as she walked away, and a couple of minutes later Sam and Tucker let out a long breath as they sat down at the table with Danny. Two rings passed over him, then, as he let himself just be Danny Fenton once more. Although it had gotten a lot easier to maintain his ghost form over the past couple of years, it was still sort of tiring.

"So, super awkward?" asked Sam curtly, and Danny knew now that she was definitely still pissed and upset about their "date." He was amazed that she'd stuck around at all, but then again, Sam was a loyal friend if nothing else, and there was no way she would be willing to be too far when Valerie was hovering nearby.

"It was okay," he admitted. "She only tried to shoot me once." _Mostly because I told her to do it, _he added mentally, but his friends didn't need to know that. Besides, they thought he was just joking.

"I don't know, Danny, I think it was more than okay," grinned Tucker as he flourished a small stack of twenties in front of his friends, his eyes sparkling. "Dude, we totally made four hundred bucks tonight! If we figure that you take out maybe a hundred for the date or something, then that's still another three hundred for us!"

"So a hundred bucks each, right?" said Sam, holding out her hand.

"Hey, you're not getting paid for this!" he said. "You were against this thing from the start, and you already have more money than you'll ever need."

"Yeah, Tuck, but she did help, and you did make her pay for the date," said Danny pointedly, smiling at Sam, but she didn't return it. Oh, well. There was nothing he could do about it now, and honestly, Danny knew that he had to tell her the truth when she pushed him tonight. He just couldn't keep on pretending not to notice, but hopefully now they could move past it. "And technically it's her parents that are loaded, not her."

"So pay up," commanded Sam, and Tucker sighed as he reluctantly handed over a small stack of bills to Sam and Danny.

"Uh, Tuck, I'm gonna need the other hundred for the date," Danny said after quickly counting it.

"But—" began Tucker, but the dirty looks from both Sam and Danny implied that he had no chance of winning the argument. "Okay, fine. Here. I don't see why you'll need it, anyway, since it's not like Danny Phantom can go to a restaurant or something."

"Yeah, well, I am the one who did the hard part, so even if I don't take her out to eat, that's none of your business," teased Danny.

"Who'd you pick, anyway?" he wondered. "That Andrea girl was really, really hot. I can't believe I'd never noticed her before—"

"—not her, Tuck," interrupted Danny, who knew that it was better to cut him off now before he really got going. His obsession with girls that were out of his league was almost on par with his obsession with technology, and Andrea had _definitely _been out of his friend's league. "I'm going with Valerie."

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" shrieked Sam and Tucker simultaneously, and Danny winced, flinching away.

"You're seriously going to go out with your ex, Danny?"

"An ex that wants to destroy you, I might add?" said Tucker, staring at his friend. "I mean, dude, if you want to kill yourself, there are easier ways to do it."

"Guys, come on, she's not that bad," he sighed, knowing that he was probably wasting his breath. Even when he'd gone out with Valerie before, he hadn't really been able to convince them that she was okay and that he would be fine. "And I think I started to get through to her today. If I go out with her on this date, then maybe I'll have the chance to actually convince her that I'm not just some evil ghost."

"Or maybe she'll just waste you without giving you a chance to say a word," argued Sam, jumping to her feet. "You know what, though? You do whatever you want, Danny. I mean, hey, why should you listen to your friends when they tell you that this is a really bad idea and that Valerie's just going to use it as a chance to destroy you?"

"Sam's right, Danny," said Tucker. "Don't do this. Even Paulina would be a better choice."

"Look, you guys, I know you don't trust her, but I do," said Danny. "And I'm sick and tired of getting hunted by her because of a few misunderstandings. This might be the only chance that I get. I have to take it."

"Fine, but don't expect us to save your butt when she starts blasting away," growled Sam as she stormed out. "I'm going home."

"Aren't you going to help us clean up?" groaned Tucker.

"Nope."

"Dude, we should totally get her to give us half of her cut tomorrow, then," said Tucker, glaring at her.

"She's just upset, Tuck," sighed Danny, watching her until her figure was out of sight. "Our date was kind of awkward."

"Yeah, I kind of got that impression," he admitted as he began to pull down the curtains, obviously not wanting to talk about it anymore than Danny did. "But she's still right about Val, you know. It's a bad idea."

"Maybe . . ." he mumbled as he began to help Tucker take everything apart. They hadn't really done much, so it didn't take long, but Danny still wished that Sam had stuck around to help. He hated having her mad at him, and now it was only going to get worse because he decided to choose Valerie. But he wasn't going to pick someone else just because it might be easier. He really wanted to do this, and Danny honestly believed it was the right thing to do. He knew that his friends would see he was right in the end.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So a climax but not. Essentially this ends the first part of the story, but there is definitely more to come. Mostly, I ended up moving on to Val because I struggled when I sat down to write the other dates. I got about halfway through each one, and thus far . . . meh. I just keep struggling to get them the way I want, but I've had Val's pretty much done for ages. Given that I didn't want to keep everyone waiting forever and that people were kind of divided in the reviews about whether I should or shouldn't move on, I ultimately chose to just go forward with Val. I still think I'll do a deleted scenes thing if I manage to work out those others (and then I might integrate back into the story once this whole thing is all said and done), but for now, it is what it is. I hope that you guys don't mind too much, especially those of you who wanted to see a few more dates.**

**It doesn't help that I've gotten distracted writing other stories, too, and with the DCI finals last week . . . gah. I'm doing my best to keep focused, but frankly, it's not my strong suit.**

**Thanks, as always, to my awesome reviewers: Teah no kitsune, TrekgeekDS9, Lord Jace, KraZiiePyrozHavemoreFun, Fluehatraya, Hebi R, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, Reid Phantom, 6Black Key Wings9, ChopSuzi, KimiUzumaki, MsFrizzle, lurkerlaine, Fugitive of Gray, The Samurai Prince (formerly known as TPOC), LTTHE4TH, nycorrall, Nysk, envyofclouds, Gammija, Panda Krios, Jennythe3, Lady GryphonInia, fanficfantasies, and randomonia.**

**And with the last chapter, this story officially passed a hundred reviews! That's a first for me, and I'm very flattered. I'm glad that so many of you are enjoying this fic, and hopefully I can keep on meeting your expectations. :)  
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**'til next time!**


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